Grantee Research Project Results
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Center for Environmental Research
Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
CLOSED - FOR REFERENCES PURPOSES ONLY
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Examining The Links Between Social Stressors, Biodiversity And Human Health
This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity.
Funding Opportunity Number: EPA-G2007-STAR-F1
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 66.509
Solicitation Opening Date: December 15, 2006
Solicitation Closing Date: April 19, 2007, 4:00 pm Eastern Time
Eligibility Contact: Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9862
Electronic Submissions: Thomas O'Farrell (o'farrell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9639
Technical Contact: Montira Pongsiri, PhD, MPH (pongsiri.montira@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9640
Access Standard STAR Forms (https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms)
View research awarded under previous solicitations (https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.archive/RFATypeList/G,C)
SUMMARY OF PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Synopsis of Program:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing to use interdisciplinary approaches to study the relationship between anthropogenic stressors (within ecosystems), changes in host and/or vector biodiversity, and infectious disease transmission. Research will focus on understanding the environmental and social factors that contribute to biodiversity change, the population dynamics of animal reservoirs and vectors of disease, biological mechanisms that influence disease transmission to humans, and the processes by which infectious diseases emerge and spread. Research on the links between anthropogenic stressors, biodiversity and infectious disease can have an important impact on our view of biodiversity, the services provided by natural ecosystems, and how we manage these resources to protect human health and the environment.
Award Information:
Anticipated Type of Award: Grant or Cooperative Agreement
Estimated Number of Awards: 3 awards
Anticipated Funding Amount: $2,250,000 pending the availability of funds
Potential Funding per Award: Up to a total of $750,000, including direct and indirect costs, with a maximum duration of 3 years
Institutional cost-sharing is not required.
Proposals with budgets exceeding the total award limits will not be considered.
Eligibility Information:
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S., state and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. See full announcement for more details.
Application Materials:
You may submit either a paper application or an electronic application (but not both) for this announcement. The necessary forms for submitting a STAR application will be found on the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) web site, https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms. To apply electronically, you must use the application package available at Grants.gov (see “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications” in Section IV). If your organization is not currently registered with Grants.gov, you need to allow approximately one week to complete the registration process to apply electronically. This registration, and electronic submission of your application, must be performed by an authorized representative of your organization.
Agency Contacts:
Eligibility Contact: Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9862
Electronic Submissions: Thomas O'Farrell (o'farrell.thomas@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9639
Technical Contact: Montira Pongsiri, PhD, MPH (pongsiri.montira@epa.gov); phone: 202-343-9640
I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
A. Introduction
The mission of the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development is to support high-quality research by the nation’s leading scientists that will improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its goals.
Changes in biodiversity can affect the transmission of infectious disease to humans, particularly vector-borne diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease. Under EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment, the agency has a mandate to use Integrated Pest Management under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to manage pests of public health importance by means that pose the least possible hazard to people and the environment. With this RFA, EPA proposes to characterize the social and environmental drivers of infectious disease transmission; specifically, how changes in host or vector biodiversity arising from anthropogenic causes affect infectious-disease transmission. Root causes of disease emergence and spread need to be explored to assist in prevention and mitigation, and characterizing the environmental factors that contribute to human infectious diseases can lead to environmentally-based approaches that can reduce their burden.
The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to support interdisciplinary research to develop approaches for quantifying and predicting the relationships between anthropogenic stressors, changes in biodiversity, and the transmission of infectious diseases to humans.
Definitions
For the purposes of this research solicitation, the following definitions are applicable:
- Biodiversity: the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms, often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, including genetic variation within species and ecosystem variety. Note: the genetic diversity of pathogens is not considered part of the research interest of this RFA.
- Emerging disease: a new disease, a new presentation of a previously recognized disease, or an existing disease that shows up in a new geographic area or a different form (e.g., drug-resistant malaria).
- Valuation: assigning a value, often in monetary terms, to biodiversity with regard to its role in reducing environmental or human health risks or providing services that benefit humans.
- Vector-borne disease: a disease associated with a pathogen commonly transmitted to humans through vectors (any animal that transmits the pathogen or plays an essential role in the pathogen’s life cycle).
- Zoonotic disease: a disease that can be transmitted from animals to people or, more specifically, a human disease associated with a pathogen that normally exists in animals but can infect humans.
- Ecosystem services: the direct and indirect benefits that human beings derive from ecosystems.
B. Background
Humans have always depended on the services provided by ecosystems to maintain their well-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a, aka MA). These services include provisioning services, such as food, water, timber and fiber; regulating services, such as the regulation of climate, floods, disease, wastes and water quality; cultural services, such as recreation; and supporting services, such as soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling. Conserving biodiversity, including genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity, is a primary means of sustaining ecosystem services, especially in response to changing conditions (Loreau 2001; MA 2005a). However, the rate of biodiversity loss is accelerating worldwide, despite decades of conservation efforts and the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 (MA 2005a). Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems to an unprecedented degree (MA 2005a). Estimated rates of species extinction are as much as a thousand times higher than the average in the fossil record (Pimm et al.1995), and overall trends in the populations of wild vertebrate species living in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments have shown a decline of around 30% between 1970 and 2003 (Living Planet Report 2006). The primary causes of losses in biodiversity are habitat alteration, overexploitation, biotic exchange due to invasive species (Wilson 1991); also, anthropogenic climate change is likely to have a major impact on global biodiversity (Parmesan and Yohe 2003).
At the same time, new infectious diseases appear to be emerging at an increasing rate (Wilcox & Gubler 2005; WHO 2005). These include new diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), as well as reemerging diseases that have expanded in geographic range, such as West Nile virus (Fauci 2005, 2006). A common factor in the emergence of infectious diseases is that they appear to be triggered by anthropogenic changes to the environment (MA 2005b; Patz et al. 2004).
There is scientific evidence to support a relationship between changes in biodiversity and increased transmission of infectious diseases to humans. Changes in biodiversity related to infectious disease transmission to humans include changes in host and vector species density, abundance, composition, and distribution; loss of genetic variation; and habitat alteration and fragmentation.
The loss or extinction of large predators due to hunting and land-use change can increase the population of a particular vector or host. This can result in an increased transmission of infectious disease to humans (Allan et al. 2003; Dobson et al. 2006). It also has been shown that the loss of specialist predators can affect the health of animal populations, as diseased individuals can survive longer and increase the potential for transmission (Packer et al. 2003). On the other hand, when nonnative species are introduced into a system, they can alter ecosystems, impact biodiversity, and introduce new pathogens.
With much of their life cycles occurring outside the human host, water-borne and vector-borne pathogens are particularly sensitive to environmental conditions. For example, eutrophication and overfishing can contribute to an abundance of intermediate snail hosts of schistosomiasis (Picquet 1996; Madsen et al. 2001). Other studies suggest that species and habitat diversity can reduce the transmission rates of vector-borne disease. The rates of infection of ticks by the pathogen associated with Lyme disease increases as host biodiversity declines (LoGuidice et al. 2003). Increased richness of non-passerine birds, which are less competent reservoir hosts than passerines, was associated with decreased West Nile virus infection in mosquitoes and a decreased number of human cases (Ezenwa et al. 2006). And the human biting rates of the most efficient malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in the Peruvian Amazon were significantly higher in deforested sites compared to sites with less habitat alteration, independent of population density (Vittor 2006).
While these studies give some indication that changes in biodiversity affect the rate of infectious disease transmission to humans, more research is needed if environmental decision-makers are to be able to incorporate biodiversity change as a factor in assessing risks to human health. In response to these needs, EPA is seeking to sponsor interdisciplinary research to better understand the qualitative and quantitative relationships between anthropogenic stressors, changes in disease host and/or vector biodiversity and infectious disease transmission to humans, in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This involves the characterization of the environmental and social factors that contribute to biodiversity change, the population dynamics of animal reservoirs and vectors of disease, biological mechanisms that influence disease transmission to humans, and the processes by which infectious diseases emerge and spread. EPA uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to manage pests of public health importance, such as mosquito vectors of disease. Characterizing the environmental and social factors contributing to disease transmission can lead to environmental, nonchemical approaches that not only contribute to conservation but also reduce disease incidence. A similar strategy of disease alleviation is being used by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on analyses of how environmental risks impact human disease (Pruss-Ustun and Corvalan 2006). With the recognition that environment “is a platform for good health,” mitigation and prevention strategies with multiple social benefits can be promoted.
In summary, there are several important research questions that illustrate the type of research needed to understand the relationships between anthropogenic stressors, changes in biodiversity and infectious disease transmission to humans.
- How do vector populations respond to different environmental conditions and varying degrees of species richness, abundance, and composition? How are disease vectors regulated in nature?
- Is there a nonlinear response to biodiversity decline that causes rapid impairment of ecosystem functions and posing risks to human health?
- How does predator loss or reintroduction alter the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans?
- What are the anthropogenic or social stressors that impact biodiversity in ways that adversely affect human health?
- What are the behavioral responses to disease risk and changes in biodiversity that could help perpetuate or mitigate adverse effects to humans?
- In what situations does biodiversity loss increase risks to human health? In what situations might biodiversity loss decrease risks to human health?
It is hoped that conducting this research will provide environmental decision-makers with tools necessary to make informed decisions regarding the real and potential impact of changes in biodiversity on human health, the role played by anthropogenic stressors in this relationship, and effective approaches for mitigating, and perhaps preventing, adverse impacts.
The specific Strategic Goal, Objective and Sub-objective from EPA’s Strategic Plan that relate to this solicitation are:
Goal 4: Healthy Communities and Ecosystems, Objective 4.5: Enhance Science and Research, Sub-objective 4.5.2: Conduct Relevant Research
The EPA’s Strategic Plan can be found at https://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/2006/entire_report.pdf (PDF) .(184 pp, 11.56MB)
C. Authority and Regulations
The authority for this RFA and resulting awards is contained in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, Section 20, 7 U.S.C. 136r, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Section 1442, 42 U.S.C. 300j-1, the Clean Water Act, Section 104, 33 U.S.C., and the Clean Air Act, Section 103, 42 U.S.C. 7403.
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a decision-making process that uses current and comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment to manage pest damage in agricultural and nonagricultural settings by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard, to people, property, and the environment. EPA provides information on pesticide and non-pesticide controls to the public, as well as to state and local agencies which manage outbreaks of infectious diseases. Mosquito vectors can transmit infectious diseases such as West Nile virus. EPA encourages nonchemical mosquito prevention efforts; where nonchemical control is not feasible, EPA educates users on the proper use of insecticides.
Projects under this RFA will characterize the social and environmental drivers of infectious disease transmission; specifically, how changes in host or vector biodiversity from anthropogenic causes affect infectious-disease transmission. This knowledge can lead to the design of environmentally-based (nonchemical) strategies to reduce infectious-disease incidence. For example, sound land use practices can be part of IPM strategies under the authority of FIFRA section 20(a) to minimize the use of pesticides as a control method of vector-borne infectious diseases and result in less pollution to land, air and water. Projects under this RFA can produce tools that can be used to test the feasibility of new IPM strategies to control pests of public health importance.
Research on changes in biodiversity that are linked to the incidence of water-borne infectious diseases is covered under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. "Pollution" is defined as the man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water. Water-borne pathogens that are proposed for study must comply with this definition.
For research with an international aspect, the above statutes are supplemented, as appropriate, by the National Environmental Policy Act, Section 102 (2)(F).
D. Specific Research Areas of Interest/Expected Outputs and Outcomes
Note to applicant: The term “output” means an environmental activity or effort, and associated work products, related to a specific environmental goal(s), (e.g., testing a new methodology), that will be produced or developed over a period of time under the agreement. The term “outcome” means the result, effect, or consequence that will occur from the above activit(ies) that is related to an environmental, behavioral, or health-related objective.
EPA is issuing this RFA to encourage novel and interdisciplinary approaches to test hypotheses examining the linkages between biodiversity, human health, and the anthropogenic stressors that contribute to these relationships. This research will require an interdisciplinary approach, involving the integration of data on ecosystems, human health, and social stressors and focusing on systems where biodiversity is hypothesized to be an important driver or trigger of risks to human health. This RFA is designed to attract investigative teams that include a range of biomedical and non-biomedical disciplines, including but not limited to ecology, epidemiology, entomology, population biology, Earth sciences, health sciences, infectious diseases, veterinary medicine, geography, statistics, social sciences, economics, land-use planning and public policy. For example:
- Ecologists and population biologists can help characterize the environmental and ecological determinants affecting animal hosts and vector populations;
- Earth scientists can play an important role in understanding data on animal reservoirs, host abundance and density, and habitat change, including the use of real-time Earth observations to fill data gaps;
- Epidemiologists can contribute knowledge on human mechanisms of disease transmission;
- Social scientists can identify human behaviors that affect biodiversity and health and provide insights into causal relationships between biodiversity and health, as well as strategies promoting human behaviors to protect the environment and human health;
- Economists can help identify the types of data that are needed for valuation studies of biodiversity as it relates to infectious disease; and
- Statisticians and modelers can aggregate relevant environmental, health, and social data into models that can predict disease occurrence.
The intent of this RFA is to sponsor research to characterize the relationships between anthropogenic stressors (within ecosystems), changes in disease host and/or vector biodiversity, and infectious disease transmission to humans, in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Accordingly, applications in response to this RFA must:
- Focus on infectious diseases in which changes in biodiversity are hypothesized to be an important driver or trigger of risk of infectious disease;
- Scientifically characterize the mechanisms underlying the relationship between biodiversity change and infectious disease transmission;
- Take an interdisciplinary approach to conducting research, integrating data on ecosystems, human health, and anthropogenic stressors by incorporating tools and/or methods from the ecological, health and social sciences (Note: Interdisciplinary teams are considered important to the success of this type of research, and applicants are encouraged, but not required, to collaborate with others across disciplines in their proposed research);
- Describe how research results can be used by decision-makers to protect human health and the environment.
Changes in biodiversity related to infectious disease transmission include changes in host and vector density, abundance, composition, and distribution; loss of genetic variation; and habitat alteration and fragmentation. The genetic diversity of pathogens is not considered part of the biodiversity research interest of this RFA. Environmental and social stressors that can influence host and vector biodiversity include but are not limited to chemical pollution, habitat loss, deforestation, urbanization, invasion of nonnative species, and agricultural land-use practices.
Applicants should also consider the following in developing their proposals:
- Proposed research may involve the collection of new data, reanalysis of existing data, or a combination of both.
- Field study sites may be in or outside of the U.S. However, only Principal Investigators based at institutions located in the United States are eligible to receive awards (see Section III.A., Eligibility Information).
- Proposals that include field research and data collection outside the United States should describe how the research results translate to similar situations in the United States.
- The focus of the RFA is on infectious diseases, but candidate diseases have not been predetermined by EPA.
- Biological data on host and vector species from the molecular to the population level may be collected or analyzed.
- Research may, but is not required to, encompass different spatial and temporal scales. All proposals should discuss the generalizability of research results to other spatial scales.
- The development of tools and/or approaches (e.g. mathematical models) to quantify biodiversity-disease relationships and to predict infectious-disease occurrence in humans as it relates to biodiversity is encouraged.
Expected Outputs
Reports, presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journal publications are expected out of each research project. EPA also expects that projects will produce knowledge that scientifically characterizes the mechanisms by which biodiversity is linked to human health. Additional expected outputs may include:
- Improved understanding of the mechanisms that link biodiversity change and risks of infectious disease;
- Development of tools that integrate data for improved understanding of relationships between biodiversity and human health;
- Development of tools that can help forecast risks to biodiversity that directly impact human health;
- Identification of the anthropogenic or social factors that affect biodiversity loss.
Expected Project Outcomes
- Use of monitoring and predictive tools that can reduce the incidence of human infectious diseases.
- Use of monitoring and predictive tools that can test the feasibility of new integrated pest management (IPM) strategies to control disease-carrying pests (vectors).
- Information that can be used to value the health benefits of conserving biodiversity.
- Mapping of results and production of conservation and health databases to improve monitoring and assessment.
- Improved strategies and communication that can encourage changes in human behavior to help reduce biodiversity loss and to decrease exposure to disease risks.
- Improved analysis of land-use planning that considers environmental and human health impacts.
- Improved coordination and information exchange between environmental decision makers and public-health practitioners in protecting biodiversity and human health.
Individual projects are not expected to lead to all of the above expected outcomes.
E. References
Allan, B.F., Keesing, F. and R.S. Ostfeld. 2003. Effects of habitat fragmentation on Lyme disease risk. Conservation Biology 17:267-72.
Araujo, M.B. and C. Rahbek. 2006. How does climate change affect biodiversity? Science 313: 1396-7.
Convention on Biological Diversity. UNEP. Aug 25, 2006 http://www.biodiv.org/convention/convention.shtml
Dobson, A., Cattadori, I., Holt, R.D., Ostfeld, R.S., Keesing, F., Krichbaum, K., Rohr, J.R., Perkins, S.E. and P.J. Hudson. 2006. Sacred cows and sympathetic squirrels: the importance of biological diversity to human health. PLoS Medicine 3: 714-718.
Ezenwa, V. O., Godsey, M.S., King, R.J. and S. C. Guptill. 2006. Avian diversity and West Nile virus: testing associations between biodiversity and infectious disease risk. Proc R. Soc. B 273: 109-117.
Fauci, Anthony. Opening Plenary Lecture at the Duke Global Health Symposium. “Global Health and Emerging Infectious: Challenges for the 21st Century.“ Durham. 17 Apr. 2006.
Fauci, A. 2006. Emerging and reemerging infectious diseases: the perpetual challenge. Academic Medicine 80(12): 1079-1085.
Kovats, R.S., Campbell-Lendrum, D.H., McMichael, A.J., Woodward, A., and J.S. Cox. 2001. Early effects of climate change: do they include changes in vector-borne disease? Philos Trans R Soc Long B Biol Sci 356(1411): 1057-68.
Living Planet Report. World Wildlife Fund International, 2006.
LoGuidice, K., Ostfeld, R.S., Schmidt, K.A. and F. Keesing. 2003. The ecology of infectious disease: effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk. PNAS 100 (2): 567-571.
Loreau, M., Naeem, S., Inchausti, P., Bengtsson, J., Grime, J.P., Hector, A., Hooper, D.U., Huston, M.A., Raffaelli, D., Schmid, B.,Tilman, D. and D.A. Wardle. 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 294: 804-8.
Madsen, H., Bloch, P., Phiri, H., Kristensen, T.K. and P. Furu. 2001. Bulinus nyassanus is an intermediate host for Schistosoma haematobium in Lake Malawi. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 95: 353-60.
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005a. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005b. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Packer, M. J., Holt, R.D., Hudson, P.J., Lafferty, K.D. and A. P. Dobson. 2003. Keeping the herds healthy and alert: Implications of predator control for infectious disease. Ecology Letters 6: 797–802.
Parmesan, C. and G. Yohe. 2003. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421:37-42
Patz, J.A., Daszak, P., Tabor, G.M., Aguirre, A.A., Pearl, M., Epstein, J., Wolfe, N.D., Kilpatrick, A.M., Foufopoulos, J., Molyneux, D., Bradley, D.J. and Members of the Working Group on Land Use Change and Disease Emergence. 2004. Unhealthy landscapes: policy recommendations on land use change and infectious disease emergence. Environmental Health Perspectives 112: 1092-8.
Patz, J.A. and W.K. Reisen. 2001. Immunology, climate change and vector-borne diseases. Trends Immunol 22: 171-2.
Pimm, S. L., Russell, G.J., Gittleman, J.L. and T. M. Brooks. 1995. The future of biodiversity. Science 269: 347-350
Picquet, M., Ernould, J.C., Vercruysse, J., Southgate, V.R., Mbaye, A., Sambou, B., Niang, M., and D. Rollinson. 1996. The epidemiology of human schistosomiasis in the Senegal River Basin. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 90: 340-346.
Pruss-Ustun, A. and C. Corvalan. 2006. Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Vittor, A.Y., Gilman, R.H., Tielsch, R., Glass, G., Shields, T., Sanchez Lozano, W., Pinedo-Cancino, V., and J.A. Patz. 2006. The effect of deforestation on the human-biting rate of Anopheles darlingi, the primary vector of falciparum malaria in the Peruvian Amazon. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 74:3-11.
Wilcox, B. A. and D. J. Gubler. 2005. Disease ecology and the global emergence of zoonotic pathogens. Environmental Health and Preventative Medicine 10:263-272.
Wilson, E. O. 1991. The Diversity of Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
World Health Organization. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Health Synthesis. Geneva: World Health Organization.
F. Special Requirements
Agency policy prevents EPA technical staff and managers from providing individual applicants information that may create an unfair competitive advantage. Consequently, EPA employees will not review, comment, advise, provide technical assistance to applicants preparing applications in response to EPA RFAs, endorse an application or discuss in any manner how the Agency will apply the published evaluation criteria for this competition.
Groups of two or more eligible applicants may choose to form a consortium and submit a single application for this assistance agreement. The application must identify which organization will be the recipient of the assistance agreement and which organizations(s) will be subawardees of the recipient.
These awards may involve the collection of “Geospatial Information,” which includes information that identifies the geographic location and characteristics of natural or constructed features or boundaries on the Earth or applications, tools, and hardware associated with the generation, maintenance, or distribution of such information. This information may be derived from, among other things, Geographic Positioning System (GPS), remote sensing, mapping, charting, and surveying technologies, or statistical data.
It is anticipated that a total of approximately $2.25 million will be awarded under this announcement, depending on the availability of funds and quality of applications received. The EPA anticipates funding approximately 3 grants or cooperative agreements under this RFA. Requests for amounts in excess of a total of $750,000, including direct and indirect costs, will not be considered. The total project period requested in an application submitted for this RFA may not exceed 3 years. The EPA reserves the right to reject all applications and make no awards, or make fewer awards than anticipated, under this RFA. The EPA reserves the right, consistent with Agency policy and without further competition, to make additional awards under this RFA if additional funding becomes available. Any additional selections for awards will be made no later than four months after the original selection decisions.
EPA may fund both grants and cooperative agreements under this announcement.
Under a grant, EPA scientists and engineers are not permitted to be substantially involved in the execution of the research. However, EPA encourages interaction between its own laboratory scientists and grant Principal Investigators after the award of an EPA grant for the sole purpose of exchanging information in research areas of common interest that may add value to their respective research activities. This interaction must be incidental to achieving the goals of the research under a grant. Interaction that is “incidental” does not involve resource commitments.
Where appropriate, based on consideration of the nature of the proposed project relative to the EPA’s intramural research program and available resources, the EPA will fund cooperative agreements under this announcement. When addressing a research question/problem of common interest, collaborations between scientists and the institution’s principal investigators are permitted under a cooperative agreement. These collaborations may include data and information exchange, providing technical input to experimental design and theoretical development, coordinating extramural research with in-house activities, the refinement of valuation endpoints, and joint authorship of journal articles on these activities. Proposals should not identify EPA cooperators or interactions; specific interactions between EPA’s investigators and those of the prospective recipient for cooperative agreements will be negotiated at the time of award.
A. Eligible Applicants
Public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the U.S., state and local governments, Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments, and U.S. territories or possessions are eligible to apply. Profit-making firms are not eligible to receive assistance agreements from the EPA under this program.
Eligible nonprofit organizations include any organizations that meet the definition of nonprofit in OMB Circular A-122. However, nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code that lobby are not eligible to apply.
National laboratories funded by Federal Agencies (Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, “FFRDCs”) may not apply. FFRDC employees may cooperate or collaborate with eligible applicants within the limits imposed by applicable legislation and regulations. They may participate in planning, conducting, and analyzing the research directed by the applicant, but may not direct projects on behalf of the applicant organization. The institution, organization, or governance receiving the award may provide funds through its assistance agreement from the EPA to an FFRDC for research personnel, supplies, equipment, and other expenses directly related to the research. However, salaries for permanent FFRDC employees may not be provided through this mechanism.
Federal Agencies may not apply. Federal employees are not eligible to serve in a principal leadership role on an assistance agreement, and may not receive salaries or augment their Agency’s appropriations in other ways through awards made under this program.
The applicant institution may enter into an agreement with a Federal Agency to purchase or utilize unique supplies or services unavailable in the private sector. Examples are purchase of satellite data, census data tapes, chemical reference standards, analyses, or use of instrumentation or other facilities not available elsewhere. A written justification for federal involvement must be included in the application. In addition, an appropriate form of assurance that documents the commitment, such as a letter of intent from the Federal Agency involved, should be included.
Potential applicants who are uncertain of their eligibility should contact Tom Barnwell (barnwell.thomas@epa.gov) in NCER, phone (202) 343-9862.
B. Cost-Sharing
Institutional cost-sharing is not required. However, proposed budgets should reflect maximal sharing of in-kind resources and funding among research partners.
C. Other
Applications must address all of the following items or they will not be considered for award:
- Focus on infectious diseases in which changes in biodiversity are hypothesized to be an important driver or trigger of risk of infectious disease;
- Scientifically characterize the mechanisms underlying the relationship between biodiversity change and infectious disease transmission;
- Take an interdisciplinary approach to conducting research, integrating data on ecosystems, human health, and anthropogenic stressors by incorporating tools and/or methods from the ecological, health and social sciences (Note: Interdisciplinary teams are considered important to the success of this type of research, and applicants are encouraged, but not required, to collaborate with others across disciplines in their proposed research);
- Describe how research results can be used by decision-makers to protect human health and the environment.
Projects under this RFA will characterize the social and environmental drivers of infectious disease transmission; specifically, how changes in host or vector biodiversity from anthropogenic causes affect infectious-disease transmission to humans. The genetic diversity of pathogens is not considered part of the biodiversity research interest of this RFA. Applications focusing on changes in biodiversity defined as changes in the genetic diversity of pathogens will be deemed ineligible for funding consideration.
This solicitation will only fund proposals that take an interdisciplinary approach to characterize relationships between anthropogenic stressors, changes in biodiversity, and the transmission of infectious diseases to humans. Proposals must be clear about the roles of each disciplinary contribution to the successful completion of the study.
Field study sites may be located in or outside of the U.S., as long as the Principal Investigator is based at an institution that meets the eligibility requirements described above in Section III.A.
Applications must substantially comply with the application submission instructions and requirements set forth in Section IV of this announcement or they will be rejected. In addition, where a page limitation is expressed in Section IV with respect to parts of the application, pages in excess of the page limit will not be reviewed. Applications must be received by the EPA, or Grants.gov, on or before the solicitation closing date and time in Section IV of this announcement or they will be returned to the sender without further consideration. Also, applications exceeding the funding limits or project period term described herein will be returned without review. Further, applications that fail to demonstrate a public purpose of support or stimulation (e.g., by proposing research which primarily benefits a Federal program or provides a service for a Federal agency) will not be funded.
In addition, to be eligible for funding consideration, a project’s focus must consist of activities within the statutory terms of EPA’s financial assistance authorities; specifically, the statute(s) listed in I.C. above. Generally, a project must address the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of air pollution, water pollution, solid/hazardous waste pollution; toxic substances control; or pesticide control. These activities should relate to the gathering or transferring of information or advancing the state of knowledge. Proposals should emphasize this “learning” concept, as opposed to “fixing” an environmental problem via a well-established method. Proposals relating to other topics which are sometimes included within the term “environment” such as recreation, conservation, restoration, protection of wildlife habitats, etc., must describe the relationship of these topics to the statutorily required purpose of pollution prevention and/or control.
Applications deemed ineligible for funding consideration will be notified within fifteen calendar days of the ineligibility determination.
IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
You may submit either a paper application or an electronic application (but not both) for this announcement. Instructions for both types of submission follow. If not otherwise marked, instructions apply to both types of submissions.
A. Internet Address to Request Application Package
For paper applications, forms and instructions can be found on the NCER web site: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms.
For electronic applications, use the application package available at Grants.gov (see “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications”). Note: With the exception of the Budget form (available at https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms), all necessary forms are included in the electronic application package.
For both paper and electronic applications, an email will be sent by NCER to the Principal Investigator and the Administrative Contact (see below) to acknowledge receipt of the application and transmit other important information. The email will be sent from receipt.application@epa.gov; emails to this address will not be accepted. If you do not receive an email acknowledgment within 30 days of the submission closing date, immediately inform the Eligibility Contact shown in this solicitation. Failure to do so may result in your application not being reviewed. See “Submission Instructions for Electronic Applications” for additional information regarding acknowledgment of receipt of electronically submitted applications. Please note: Due to often-lengthy delays in delivery, it is especially important that you monitor NCER’s confirmation of receipt of your application when using regular mail.
B. Content and Form of Application Submission
The application is made by submitting the materials described below. It is essential that the application contain all information requested and be submitted in the formats described.
- Standard Form 424
The applicant must complete Standard Form 424. This form will be the first page(s) of the application. Instructions for completion of the SF424 are included with the form. (However, note that EPA requires that the entire requested dollar amount appear on the 424, not simply the proposed first year expenses.) The form must contain the original (or electronic) signature of an authorized representative of the applying institution.
Applicants are required to provide a “Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System” (DUNS) number when applying for federal grants or cooperative agreements. Organizations may receive a DUNS number by calling 1-866-705-5711 or by visiting the web site at http://www.dnb.com.
Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs,” applies to most EPA programs and assistance agreements, unless the program or assistance agreement supports tribal, training/fellowships (other than Wastewater and Small Water Systems Operator training programs), and research and development (with some exceptions). The SF424 refers to this Executive Order requirement. National research programs are generally exempt from review unless the proposals (a) require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), or (b) do not require an EIS but will be newly initiated at a particular site and require unusual measures to limit the possibility of adverse exposure or hazard to the general public, or (c) have a unique geographic focus and are directly relevant to the governmental responsibilities of a State or local government within that geographic area. To determine whether their state participates in this process, and how to comply, applicants should consult http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html.
- Key Contacts
The applicant must complete the "Key Contacts" form as the second page of the application: a Key Contacts continuation page is also available at https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms. The Key Contacts form should also be completed for major sub-agreements (i.e., primary co-investigators). Please make certain that all contact information is accurate.
- Table of Contents
Provide a list of the major subdivisions of the application indicating the page number on which each section begins.
- Abstract (1 page)
The abstract is a very important document in the review process. Therefore, it is critical that the abstract accurately describes the research being proposed and conveys all the essential elements of the research. Also, the abstracts of applications that receive funding will be posted on the NCER web site.
The abstract should include the information described below (a-h). Examples of abstracts for current grants may be found on the NCER web site.
- Funding Opportunity Title and Number for this proposal.
- Project Title: Use the exact title of your project as it appears in the application. The title must be brief yet represent the major thrust of the project. Because the title will be used by those not familiar with the project, strike a balance between highly technical words and phrases and more commonly understood terminology. Do not use general phrases such as "research on."
- Investigators: List the Principal Investigator, then the names and affiliations of each co-investigator who will significantly contribute to the project. Provide a web site URL or an email contact address for additional information.
- Institution: In the same order as the list of investigators, list the name, city and state of each participating university or other applicant institution. The institution applying for assistance must be clearly identified.
- Project Period and Location: Show the proposed project beginning and ending dates, and the geographical location(s) where the work will be conducted.
- Project Cost: Show the total dollars requested from the EPA (include direct and indirect costs for all years).
- Project Summary: Provide three subsections addressing: (1) the objectives of the study (including any hypotheses that will be tested), (2) the experimental approach to be used (a description of the proposed project), and (3) the expected results of the project and how it addresses the research needs identified in the solicitation, including the estimated improvement in risk assessment or risk management that will result from successful completion of the proposed work.
- Supplemental Keywords: Without duplicating terms already used in the text of the abstract, list keywords to assist database searchers in finding your research. A list of suggested keywords may be found at: https://www.epa.gov/research-grants/funding-opportunities-how-apply-and-required-forms.
- Research Plan, Quality Assurance Statement and References
Page allowances for the following section(s) are in addition to those allowed for the Research Plan and Quality Assurance Statement.
- Research Plan (15 pages)
Applications should focus on a limited number of research objectives that adequately and clearly demonstrate that they meet the RFA requirements. Explicitly state the main hypotheses that you will investigate, the data you will create or use, the analytical tools you will use to investigate these hypotheses or analyze these data, and the results you expect to achieve. Research methods must be clearly stated so that reviewers can evaluate the appropriateness of your approach and the tools you intend to use. A statement such as: "we will evaluate the data using the usual statistical methods" is not specific enough for peer reviewers.
This description must not exceed fifteen (15) consecutively numbered (bottom center), 8.5x11-inch pages of single-spaced, standard 12-point type with 1-inch margins. While these guidelines establish the minimum type size requirements, applicants are advised that readability is of paramount importance and should take precedence in selection of an appropriate font for use in the proposal.
The description must provide the following information:
- Objectives: List the objectives of the proposed research and the hypotheses being tested during the project, and briefly state why the intended research is important and how it fulfills the requirements of the solicitation. Describe the policy, planning and/or decision-making that the research is intended to inform. This section should also include any background or introductory information that would help explain the objectives of the study. If this application is to expand upon research supported by an existing or former assistance agreement awarded under the STAR program, indicate the number of the agreement and provide a brief report of progress and results achieved under it (one to two pages recommended).
- Approach/Activities: Outline the research design, methods, and techniques that you intend to use in meeting the objectives stated above (five to ten pages recommended).
- Expected Results, Benefits, Outputs, and Outcomes: Describe the results you expect to achieve during the project (outputs) and the potential benefits of the results (outcomes). This section should also discuss how the research results will lead to solutions to environmental problems and improve the public's ability to protect the environment and human health. A clear, concise description will help NCER and peer reviewers understand the merits of the research (one to two pages recommended).
- General Project Information: Discuss other information relevant to the potential success of the project. This should include facilities, personnel expertise/experience, project schedules, proposed management, interactions with other institutions, etc. Applications for multi-investigator projects must identify project management and the functions of each investigator in each team and describe plans to communicate and share data (one to two pages recommended).
- Appendices may be included but must remain within the 15-page limit.
- Quality Assurance Statement (1 to 3 pages in addition to the 15-page research plan)
For projects involving environmental data collection or processing, conducting surveys, modeling, method development, or the development of environmental technology (whether hardware-based or via new techniques), provide a Quality Assurance Statement (QAS) regarding the plans for processes that will be used to ensure that the products of the research satisfy the intended project objectives. Follow the guidelines provided below to ensure that the QAS describes a system that complies with ANSI/ASQC E4, Specifications and Guidelines for Quality Systems for Environmental Data Collection and Environmental Technology Programs. Do not exceed three consecutively numbered, 8.5x11-inch pages of single-spaced, standard 12-point type with 1-inch margins.
Address each section below by including the required information, referencing the specific location of the information in the Research Plan, or explaining why the section does not apply to the proposed research.
- Identify the individual who will be responsible for the quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) aspects of the research along with a brief description of this person's functions, experience, and authority within the research organization. Describe the organization's general approach for conducting quality research. (QA is a system of management activities to ensure that a process or item is of the type and quality needed for the project. QC is a system of activities that measures the attributes and performance of a process or item against the standards defined in the project documentation to verify that they meet those stated requirements.)
- Discuss project objectives, including quality objectives, any hypotheses to be tested, and the quantitative and/or qualitative procedures that will be used to evaluate the success of the project. Include any plans for peer or other reviews of the study design or analytical methods.
- Address each of the following project elements as applicable:
- Collection of new/primary data:
(Note: In this case the word "sample" is intended to mean any finite part of a statistical population whose properties are studied to gain information about the whole. If certain attributes listed below do not apply to the type of samples to be used in your research, simply explain why those attributes are not applicable.)
Discuss the plan for sample collection and analysis. As applicable, include sample type(s), frequency, locations, sample sizes, sampling procedures, and the criteria for determining acceptable data quality (e.g., precision, accuracy, representativeness, completeness, comparability, or data quality objectives).- Describe the procedures for the handling and custody of samples including sample collection, identification, preservation, transportation, and storage, and how the accuracy of test measurements will be verified.
- Describe or reference each analytical method to be used, any QA or QC checks or procedures with the associated acceptance criteria, and any procedures that will be used in the calibration and performance evaluation of the analytical instrumentation.
- Discuss the procedures for overall data reduction, analysis, and reporting. Include a description of all statistical methods to make inferences and conclusions, acceptable error rates and/or power, and any statistical software to be used.
- Use of existing/secondary data (i.e., data previously collected for other purposes or from other sources):
- Describe or reference each analytical method to be used, any QA or QC checks or procedures with the associated acceptance criteria, and any procedures that will be used in the calibration and performance evaluation of the analytical instrumentation.
- Discuss the procedures for overall data reduction, analysis, and reporting. Include a description of all statistical methods to make inferences and conclusions, acceptable error rates and/or power, and any statistical software to be used.
- Method development:
(Note: The data collected for use in method development or evaluation should be described in the QAS as per the guidance in section 3A and/or 3B above.)
Describe the scope and application of the method, any tests (and measurements) to be conducted to support the method development, the type of instrumentation that will be used and any required instrument conditions (e.g., calibration frequency), planned QC checks and associated criteria (e.g., spikes, replicates, blanks), and tests to verify the method's performance.
- Development or refinement of models:
(Note: The data collected for use in the development or refinement of models should be described in the QAS as per the guidance in section 3A and/or 3B above.)
- Discuss the scope and purpose of the model, key assumptions to be made during development/refinement, requirements for code development, and how the model will be documented.
- Discuss verification techniques to ensure the source code implements the model correctly.
- Discuss validation techniques to determine that the model (assumptions and algorithms) captures the essential phenomena with adequate fidelity.
- Discuss plans for long-term maintenance of the model and associated data.
- Development or operation of environmental technology:
(Note: The data collected for use in the development or evaluation of the technology should be described in the QAS as per the guidance in section 3A and/or 3B above.)
- Describe the overall purpose and anticipated impact of the technology.
- Describe the technical and quality specifications of each technology component or process that is to be designed, fabricated, constructed, and/or operated.
- Discuss the procedure to be used for documenting and controlling design changes.
- Discuss the procedure to be used for documenting the acceptability of processes and components, and discuss how the technology will be benchmarked and its effectiveness determined.
- Discuss the documentation requirements for operating instructions/guides for maintenance and use of the system(s) and/or process(s).
- Conducting surveys:
(Note: The data to be collected in the survey and any supporting data should be described in the QAS as per the guidance in section 3A and/or 3B above.)
Discuss the justification for the size of the proposed sample for both the overall project and all subsamples for specific treatments or tests. Identify and explain the rational for the proposed statistical techniques (e.g., evaluation of statistical power).
- Collection of new/primary data:
- Discuss data
- Research Plan (15 pages)
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.